1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed toward donut and baked goods processing equipment, and more particularly, to devices, systems, and methods for thawing, heating and/or glazing previously frozen donuts or baked goods.
2. Description of the Related Art
Donuts and similar baked goods are extremely popular food products, and are becoming even more popular. As outlets providing freshly made donuts become more popular, the demand for donuts, both fresh and packaged, also increases.
In an effort to meet this increasing demand, retail outlets with labor limitations without equipment for baking or frying fresh baked goods and donuts are looking for ways to provide their customers with the best alternatives. Many retail outlets purchase frozen donuts and allow them to thaw at ambient temperature or in a refrigerated environment. After the donuts have thawed, they are placed on a tray and heated in either a rack oven or a conveyor oven. Finally, if desired, the donuts can be moved onto a glazing screen and glazed, iced and/or filled. One example of such a process and the associated equipment can be seen at International Publication No. WO 99/48373.
Although the new systems and processes for thawing, heating and finishing previously frozen donuts are an improvement over their own prior art, they themselves could stand to be improved in many ways. For example, the WO 99/48373 system requires each donut to be manually transferred at least two times, which can be time-consuming and can damage the donut or its finish. Also, thawing donuts in a refrigerator, even inside a plastic bag, causes the donuts to lose moisture, resulting in less desirable end products. Still further, because each donut is transferred after it leaves the oven from a tray to a glazing screen—or is heated on a rack with many other trays of donuts—before it is glazed, the temperature of the donuts varies between the time it leaves the oven and the time it his glazed, which adversely affect the consistency and quality of the glazing on the final product. These and other shortcomings have been reported in association with the state of the art in reheating and glazing previously frozen donuts and baked goods.